Sides
by KNO
Summary: One-shot. Neji is in a gang. TenTen's not. Problems occur. Neji/TenTen pairing. Rated T for gang material, mature themes, and a character death.


_Yet again, another one-shot._

_So, I wrote this yesterday. I got the inspiration from another fic. However, as far as I'm concerned, this is nothing like hers._

_Basically, Neji is in a gang. I know. I surprised myself with that._

_But anyway, this is Neji/TenTen pairing._

_Rated T for **mature themes**, and a **character death**. Proceed with caution._

_Reviews are ALWAYS appreciated._

**Disclaimer:** Masashi Kishimoto, one of the greatest men on this earth, created all of this. Congratulations go to him alone.

* * *

**Songs (In Order):** Forget It - Flaw; All the Worst - Flaw; Couer Sacré - Josh Groban; My Sundown - Jimmy Eat World.

* * *

Sides.

* * *

"You have to choose a side!" he hissed at her.

He wasn't supposed to be there, he had surveillance to do with Inuzuka in twenty minutes. But he had to try again . . . leaving this unsettled was murder. Literally.

"Please," he begged; this wasn't like him.

"_No!_" she said, not a little loud.

Neji hissed a "shh!", looking at TenTen like she was crazy. Maybe she was. She wouldn't freakin' choose a side, so anything was possible.

"You have to!" he told her, reiterating his point once more for the thousandth time.

"No, I don't, Neji! This is idiotic to join this stupid gang war!"

"You die if you don't choose a side, they're not above killing random people! And with me so high up, you could be a target. At least if you join us, you have some safety."

"I told you already what my answer is, Neji. And it's no. And I know that death is the fate for you if you don't choose. But this a stupid war, and you're an idiot to be involved in it anyway."

Neji didn't grace that with a reply. He checked his watch. He had to go. Now.

"I love you," he told her, going to the door.

He looked back when she didn't reply. TenTen was faced away from him, looking out the window. Neji checked his watch again. He went back over to TenTen; he had about five minutes and then he'd have to go, quickly.

"What's wrong?" he asked her, catching her shoulder.

It took her a few seconds before she said softly, "I hate this."

Neji blinked.

"Well, it'll all be okay in a week. Sasuke came up with this idea that—"

"Don't talk to me about Sasuke! He's the one who got you into all of this!" TenTen cut off, once again growing angry.

"No, he didn't," Neji instantly said, defending his leader and friend.

"Whatever you say, Neji," TenTen finally said in a tone that read she didn't want to fight anymore on this.

"I have to go," he said, glancing at his watch once more.

TenTen nodded, not looking at him.

"I love you," he said again, standing up. He wanted an answer this time.

"I love you, too," replied TenTen quietly after a minute, looking up at Neji.

He smiled, even though the haunted look in her eyes scared him. Neji crossed the small room in three strides, his hand on the knob. He looked back at TenTen, but she had turned back to the window.

Neji walked out into the night. He heard the vague sigh of, "Don't get yourself killed", before he shut the door. Neji smiled grimly.

* * *

"You're late," said Inuzuka.

They were to start their watch on Urey Street, which was where Kiba Inuzuka was, leaning against a light pole.

"No," said Neji, checking his watch once again, "I'm right on time."

"Okay, well, let's just start. Sasuke'll want us back right after midnight."

Neji nodded, and Kiba's dog, Akamaru, barked.

Their route was their usual one, up Urey Street, across the bypass, and then finishing up near the north side of town. This patrol was expected to be routine, so Kiba, Akamaru, and Neji acted as such. Thankfully, the only trouble the three experienced was a sighting of one or two people from a rival crew. Y's. The whole lot of Sasuke's gang hated them, especially Sasuke himself. The Y's were infamous, and in actuality, the Crows's rivals. Some said that Sasuke's brother was the leader of the Y's, and that was why Sasuke hated them so much. No one really knew.

* * *

When Neji, Akamaru, and Kiba reached the Crows' base, near the west side of town, reports had already started. However, Sasuke stopped everyone when the three moved into sight.

"Where were you?" asked Sasuke, his sleepless eyes boring into all three of them somehow at once.

"Saw some Y's. Had to find cover. You said it was just routine patrolling, so we didn't want to get in a fight," answered Kiba.

Neji seconded this by nodding. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the three, but gestured for them to sit down.

"As I was saying, the Y's have provoked us for too long. Let's just say that once Sunday arrives, they'll be calling it 'Bloody Sunday' for a long time."

Many of the gang yelled and jeered their pleasure at these words. Neji nodded. That was right. When Sunday came, the two rival gangs would finally fight. To the death.

* * *

Once Sasuke had dismissed everyone, Neji decided to go back to TenTen's. She would be glad to see him safe. He made a mental note to not mention Sunday to her, also.

Neji finally reached TenTen's house, somewhere in the middle of the west and south sides of the city. But something was wrong. The air . . . it was different. Like static silence. Neji walked slightly faster. Was something wrong? Was—?

Neji stopped in the middle of the street. He didn't care if he got hit by a car. It wouldn't matter.

TenTen's front door was open. _Open._ TenTen didn't leave her doors open.

Neji wanted to stay planted to that spot in the middle of the street for the rest of his life, as long as he didn't have to go in that house. But he had to know, he had to see.

Neji arrived at the doorframe quickly. He averted his eyes as best he could, but they were like magnets, leading him heavily to the area in front of the couch.

He could already see her. Well, at least her leg. It looked fairly simple and unprovoked lying there, but Neji knew better. He crossed the room, reluctantly but surely at the same time. And there she was, on the floor. Neji knelt down, his hand removing some of the loose hair that had fallen onto her face. The life from her brown eyes was already gone.

Neji choked back the emotion and examined the wounds. They had shot her four times, three times to the chest, and one to what was the lung area. The Y's had been precise in their work, as they always were. This wasn't the first corpse Neji had seen. In fact, he'd seen many over the years, even some bodies that used to contain the spirit of his friends. He knew Y work when he saw it.

But they had shot her. _Her._ Didn't they know who this was? She was . . . special. She hadn't deserved this kind of death.

The blood had already matted and started to turn brown and dry. Neji looked around at his surroundings, not really taking them in. What should he . . . do?


End file.
